The main technology being used throughout this virtual unit is a Wiki. When designing an online course, it is important that the information be organized in a way that the learner can easily access everything that is needed in order to complete their work. According to Riedinger (2006), “a student confused or frustrated by design flaws or technology constraints will soon move to a more user-friendly online program.” This is why I chose to use a Wiki to organize my virtual unit. I was able to create pages for each day of the lesson, and provide all of the content for my individual lesson on one page.Though a Wiki provides a portal to which students can post information, and can participate in discussions, it does not have the capabilities that an LMS built for online learning would provide, but for the purposes of this project, it provided the necessary elements. I also created online tutorials and assessments that the students can complete to gain the necessary knowledge to be successful in the unit. Throughout this unit, the students use a variety of technology to complete their projects and assignments, including PowerPoint, Voki, and StudentPublishing.com.
Pedagogical Approaches and Justification for Design
As I designed this unit, I kept in mind the three generations of distance education pedagogy, and applied the different aspects that I believe are most important for our learners today. According to Anderson and Dron (2011), all three types of pedagogy “can and should be effectively used to address the full spectrum of learning needs and aspirations of 21st century learners.” In respect to the cognitive behaviourist pedagogy, when designing the learning for my students, I focused on Gagne’s Nine Stages (1965). I wanted to provide them with a natural progression through learning that allowed them to access their prior knowledge, work with the new information and then apply what they have learned. I also included social constructivist pedagogy by allowing the students to share what they have learned through discussion boards. The unit was designed to be student-centered, with the teacher being a guide through the learning. According to Anderson and Dron (2011), “The locus of control in a social-constructivist system shifts somewhat away from the teacher, who becomes more of a guide than an instructor, but who assumes the critical role of shaping the learning activities and designing the structure in which those activities occur.” The students are able to work their way through the activities and assessments that I provided for them at their own pace.
In order to meet the needs of my individual students, I also provided differentiated instruction through the use of a pre-assessment. Once my students finished their warm-up, they were directed to complete an activity based on their score on the warm-up. If the students did not have the appropriate background knowledge that was necessary for completing the lesson, they were directed to complete an activity to remind them of previously learned outcomes. If they showed mastery of the background knowledge, they were able to move on to the next section which requires more analysis of the content. I also differentiated instruction using activities that meet the needs of students with multiple intelligences. Throughout the unit, I created assessments and activities that would appeal to the multiple intelligences of students. The interactive sections of the lesson provide audio and visual representations of the information, and even get the kinesthetic learner engaged through drag and drop interactions and interactive assessments.
Media/Technologies Used
The main technology being used throughout this virtual unit is a Wiki. When designing an online course, it is important that the information be organized in a way that the learner can easily access everything that is needed in order to complete their work. According to Riedinger (2006), “a student confused or frustrated by design flaws or technology constraints will soon move to a more user-friendly online program.” This is why I chose to use a Wiki to organize my virtual unit. I was able to create pages for each day of the lesson, and provide all of the content for my individual lesson on one page.Though a Wiki provides a portal to which students can post information, and can participate in discussions, it does not have the capabilities that an LMS built for online learning would provide, but for the purposes of this project, it provided the necessary elements. I also created online tutorials and assessments that the students can complete to gain the necessary knowledge to be successful in the unit. Throughout this unit, the students use a variety of technology to complete their projects and assignments, including PowerPoint, Voki, and StudentPublishing.com.
Pedagogical Approaches and Justification for Design
As I designed this unit, I kept in mind the three generations of distance education pedagogy, and applied the different aspects that I believe are most important for our learners today. According to Anderson and Dron (2011), all three types of pedagogy “can and should be effectively used to address the full spectrum of learning needs and aspirations of 21st century learners.”
In respect to the cognitive behaviourist pedagogy, when designing the learning for my students, I focused on Gagne’s Nine Stages (1965). I wanted to provide them with a natural progression through learning that allowed them to access their prior knowledge, work with the new information and then apply what they have learned. I also included social constructivist pedagogy by allowing the students to share what they have learned through discussion boards. The unit was designed to be student-centered, with the teacher being a guide through the learning. According to Anderson and Dron (2011), “The locus of control in a social-constructivist system shifts somewhat away from the teacher, who becomes more of a guide than an instructor, but who assumes the critical role of shaping the learning activities and designing the structure in which those activities occur.” The students are able to work their way through the activities and assessments that I provided for them at their own pace.
In order to meet the needs of my individual students, I also provided differentiated instruction through the use of a pre-assessment. Once my students finished their warm-up, they were directed to complete an activity based on their score on the warm-up. If the students did not have the appropriate background knowledge that was necessary for completing the lesson, they were directed to complete an activity to remind them of previously learned outcomes. If they showed mastery of the background knowledge, they were able to move on to the next section which requires more analysis of the content. I also differentiated instruction using activities that meet the needs of students with multiple intelligences. Throughout the unit, I created assessments and activities that would appeal to the multiple intelligences of students. The interactive sections of the lesson provide audio and visual representations of the information, and even get the kinesthetic learner engaged through drag and drop interactions and interactive assessments.